Chapter 7  "City of Bones"

I didn't know how long I looked for him until I finally found him in the kitchen with the others. Isabelle was cooking something, but she might as well have started a fire because the whole room smelled of burning. Absently, Alec drew a rune on Jace's forearm while Jace had his eyes closed. And Adam was leaning against the fridge with a puzzled look on his face.

Neither Isabelle nor Jace turned in my direction when I entered the kitchen. Alec examined me from top to bottom, but he didn't look angry or leery. The first good omen today. "Clary." Adam made some steps towards me. "You look much better." Isabelle gave a barely hearable snort.

I nodded and ignored her completely. "I'm as healthy as possible." My voice sounded husky, but I couldn't tell if their presences were the reason for it. "I came here to see you before I leave."

These words made Jace look up. Our eyes met for a second, then my eyes wandered to Adam's face. The bruises weren't as vibrant as some hours ago, but they were still clearly visible. His left eye was framed by a dark purple one which absorbed the color of his eye. When I wasn't directly paying attention to it, he looked like an odd pirate with a lilac eyepatch. A smile appeared on my lips at that thought. Apart from that he looked fine. His brown hair was unkempt and fell in all directions. A warm smile played around his lips.

"I'm fine but it's nice to know that someone cares", he said and leaned against the counter. "You're leaving? What do you mean?" He narrowed his eyes in a discontent manner.

"Can we talk outside?", I asked and pointed at the door. Without hesitation, he nodded and followed me into the corridor. I felt Jace eyes resting on me at the way out. I didn't feel that it was the right time now to return the look. I remembered that I had called him Jonathan earlier in the training hall and he wouldn't forgive me that. As well as he wouldn't forgive me all the felonies my father had committed.

"Is everything alright? You seem troubled", Adam carefully said. I could see his eyes watching every of my movements and it bothered me that he had seen through my façade. It must have been the sentence about leaving that had perplexed him.

Therefore, I shook my head and turned to face him. "We'll visit the Silent City. Maryse believes that Valentine marked me with a special rune or even a spell and the Silent Brothers are the only ones who can free me from it. Although it's probably not a spell." Slowly, we walked down the corridor and reached the elevator

"They seem right", Adam said and pressed the button to close the elevator's door. "What I saw earlier in the hall ... It wasn't natural. I've never seen something like this before which means that the Brothers are probably the only ones who can help you. How can you be sure that it's not a spell?"

"Magnus Bane was here, he's the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He's sure that a spell is not the case for what happened", I replied firmly. I trusted Magnus, he seemed like a very experienced warlock regardless of his somehow unique appearance. And the fact that he was a Downworlder.

"What is a warlock doing in the Institute?", Adam asked and rubbed his forehead in a strange manner. He was taller than me and his voluminous hair made him look even taller.

At his question, I shrugged my shoulders. "He helped us escape my father", I explained and glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. "Magnus created the portal that brought us to New York, and he allowed us to stay in his guestrooms." He nodded slowly but something flashed in his eyes. "I didn't know that you were interested in warlocks."

Adam shook his head. "I'm not", he said with a toneless voice. "I was just curious because we don't get visitors from the Down World that often." Then his lips stretched into a distorting smile. In this moment, the elevator's door slid open. We had reached the roof.

Fresh air blew towards us as we debouched the elevator and looked around. Just now I remembered that it was in the deep of the night. New York's lights beamed all around and it felt as if we were so close to the sky with the stars all around us, so near that we could almost touch them. It was a breathtaking view to stare at all of this from up here.

Then I remembered why I wanted to talk to him. The light feeling in my stomach disappeared at once. "They believe that Valentine might be able to control or even locate me through the rune. Jonathan was able to enter my mind after all. Nobody knows what the rune could be used for." I gave him an eager look in the hope of a calming answer, but I knew he wouldn't give me one. In fact, Adam just stared back. Clueless, I guessed. He didn't know what to say. "I told you that they would bring me to the Silent Brothers", I slowly added, and my voice sounded bitter. "If they don't find a solution, I don't know what to do then."

"They will", Adam finally found his voice back after what felt like an eternity. "They always do. I'll accompany you to the Silent City." He sounded severe but his green eyes sparkled determined. I nodded even though he couldn't see it because he turned his back on me and stared at the city.

I stepped next to him. "I want to go out there so badly. Visit the city and have fun and forget everything for once."

"Believe me, you'll get the opportunity. I'll try to make it happen as soon as possible", he said with the same determined voice as just before. He turned his head in my direction. The wind had ruffled up his brown hair, but he was still handsome. "But business comes before pleasure, and I believe that it's very important to bring you to the Silent Brothers as fast as possible."

Questioning, I looked up to him. "We will, tomorrow morning." Adam nodded and his hand grabbed my shoulders in a soft but firm manner and gently pushed me to the elevator. "You need to get some sleep, a visit in the Silent City can be very exhausting."

oOo

The next morning, we gathered in the Institute's foyer. My mother and Maryse were already there. I had picked Adam up before we met the others in the hall. Just now, I remembered the words I had thrown at Jocelyn the day before. Abruptly, I came to a halt. I couldn't look her in the eyes, not now. From afar, I saw how distressed she looked. But I also couldn't apologize because a little part of me was still angry at her. It was difficult for me to surpass myself.

Because of that, I was grateful when Maryse began to speak. "Now that we're all attendant, it's time to leave for the Silent City. The Silent Brothers are expecting us already." Maryse gave us a matt smile and then turned to my mother and nodded. She sounded patronizingly, as if talking to her fellows gave her a special feeling of power.

I turned around to face Adam who stood directly behind me. "Come", I said, hearable only to him. Subsequently, he started to move. We followed my mother and Maryse outside. As soon as the leaf doors had closed behind us, we entered a completely different world. The world of humans. Cars were passing loudly on the street and from afar one could hear tooting.

In front of the Institute, at the parking lot, stood a long black car. Its windows were dimmed, and it looked much nobler than the other cars around. Nobody was paying attention to us or the car that shone out. It was the glamour. Maryse opened one of the car's doors and let my mother, Adam and me get in. Then she hopped in herself and closed the doors. I didn't see a driver because our area was delimited from the front region. But the car set in motion. "You better hold fast onto your seat", Maryse warned us. She sat opposite us. Next to her was a small refrigerator and I instantly asked myself why there was one at all.

"This is called a luxury sedan", Adam whispered into my ear. "Only rich or popular humans use this kind of car as transportation." Thankful, I nodded but before I could respond anything, a strong jolt tossed me against my mother as the car made a turn.

"Sorry", I mumbled apologizing, and she just gave me a small smile.

Although our journey took a while, it wasn't boring. Most of the time, I stared out of the window and tried to memorize all the pictures in my head. There was so much going on outside the Institute, this world fascinated me. It was somehow exciting to watch the humans spending their time with friends or ran to work in suits that looked everything but comfortable. Some were laughing, others seemed in a hurry. In my chest, I felt the unknown longing to get out and let myself be absorbed by this new world. It seemed far better than my current life.

Never in my life had I thought that the life as normal human could be better than the life of a Shadowhunter. We were warriors after all, guarding the light and fighting against demons to protect this world. The life expectancy of a Shadowhunter wasn't that long, many died young. Was this the life I wanted to lead? Humans hadn't such problems, they had mundane problems and they hadn't any burden to take.

Soon the buildings got smaller and fewer. The humans vanished as well. The car came to a standstill on a huge cemetery. It opened to waters which flew all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. I could see it in the distance, from afar the bridge seemed as small as my hand.

One could hear single birds singing and the rustling of leaves in the wind. This place seemed peaceful. But as I had already learnt in my early years of childhood, peace was nothing more than a lie. Every living being feels, every kind in different ways. The first emotion a newborn feels when it comes to the world isn't love or fear. It's anger. That's the cause for its cry and that's the cause why humans are capable of war and destruction. My father had told me this once when I had asked him why we had to be Shadowhunters at all.

I closed my eyes and recalled my father in my memories. It's everyone's destiny to kill or be killed. This is the circle of life, Clarissa, but most of the people deny it out of fear. They would break apart emotionally if they accepted this as the truth. Shadowhunters accept it and that's the reason why the burden to protect this world was placed on our shoulders. It's our purpose to kill and be killed.

"For centuries, humans weren't buried in New York anymore", said Maryse. "The cemetery's been abandoned a long time ago. Humans don't come here, they won't find their loved ones here. For us, this place hides something of very high importance. The City of Bones. It's an uncommon term for the Silent City." She probably thought I wasn't aware of this. But of course, I was. I was also aware that the remains of all past Shadowhunter generations lied in the city. Their souls connected forever. 

I went over the cemetery. I knew directly where the entrance was. It was at the tall statue of the archangel Raziel. The Mortal Cup in his hand was unmistakable. Maryse followed me with fast steps. Gasping out, she came to a halt next to me and tried to keep her voice calm. "How do you know about this place?"

My eyes sought hers and I noticed that she was staring at me with a mixture of caution and harshness. "The knowledge Valentin shared with us was more extensive than fragments from ancient sources. We learned everything through first-hand information."

If Maryse was frightened, she was able to hide it perfectly well. She only nodded and then turned, looking for Jocelyn and Adam. Just now I realized that I had forgotten him entirely. I had probably left him at the car, baffled. A moment later, I heard his steps on the wet ground and then he was standing in front of me. "Make sure you don't slip."

I watched him disapproving. „I know what moss is, Adam. It exists in Idris as well."

"Does it?" He asked and questioned me with a smile. I laughed at him.

Meanwhile, Maryse had opened the gate to the Silent City. A last time, I looked around. Something seemed off. As if someone was watching us. I could feel it in my bones. But it was still too dark to see anything. In front of the grey sky, the black branches of the trees were striking. 

"Are you coming?" Adam was waiting at the gate while Maryse went down the stone staircase. Somehow, I had imagined the gate to be huger. Fastly, I followed Adam and felt the cool breath of my mother in my neck as she let me come first.

As soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs, the gate closed with a tremor that sent my marrow to the bone. The little light from outside had now gone out and for a brief moment we all stood in the dark until Jocelyn activated her witchlight. We did the same. The walls seemed polished smooth. Our lights reflected in them as they did in water. Only at second glance did I recognize the engraved runes.

We followed the long narrow corridor. When Adam stopped, I nearly ran into him. Maryse had also stopped. I risked a look back. My mother was tense, clenching her teeth and looking at me blankly.

Suddenly the corridor lit up with bright light. I staggered back and stepped on Jocelyn's foot. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that torches had begun to burn all around us. Orange flames flared up and the fire cast dancing shadows on the wall. I turned back and the whole corridor was on fire. Far away I could see the stairs. We got further than I expected. Suddenly there was a shadow at the bottom of the stairs. Startled, I tried to make out more details, but it was already gone. Despite the warm torches, I shivered. Was it just a reflection of the fire?

The Silent Brothers welcome you.

I turned again and stared into the face of a tall man. Could you even call him a man anymore? Immediately the shadow on the stairs was forgotten. My flight instinct kicked in, urging me to run as the fire cast strange shadows across his scars. My father had warned us about their rites. They were dangerous and could kill a normal Shadowhunter instantly without the right runes.

"Brother Jeremiah", Maryse whispered and nodded respectfully. The Silent Brothers had a very high repute in the Shadowhunter society. It was a great honor to join the brotherhood. And it was an even a greater sacrifice. "How you already witnessed, I have warranted safety to two members of the Morgenstern family in the New York Institute."

Indeed, Jocelyn and Clarissa Morgenstern.

My mother stepped forward and took my hand in order that I followed her when she walked past Adam. I felt deeply concerned. Fear flowed through my veins and let them freeze. Why did I have to talk to them? How should the Silent Brothers help to free me from my rune? Angrily, I wrested my hand away from my mother. I shouldn't be afraid of them, it was silly. After all, they were here to help me.

I have heard a lot about you, daughter of the Morgenstern.

Somehow, that was obvious. I sighed. Why did everyone have to know me before I knew them? Brother Jeremiah bended forward. His long bony fingers touched my temple. Startled, I flinched. His fingers were ice cold as if there was no blood flowing through his body.

You have to relax, Clarissa.

His voice echoed through my head, and I noticed that he must have spoken only to me because the others watched us, alarmed. As if I could go up in flames any second. Nonsense.

Follow me. I will guide you to the others. 

We did what he said and followed him into another, wider corridor. More hallways diverted from it and lead into other parts of the Silent City that we would probably never face. From some point, the atmosphere grew a little warmer. Old carpets, weaponry and emblems hung on the walls. We went down another long but wider staircase, passed libraries and even a source of water. Everything was lighted by torches and the deeper we went down in the earth the higher the ceilings and the more gorgeous the exhibits got. An archangel was painted on the ceiling above us, and I had to think of the Institute immediately. Like in a trance, Jeremiah guided us through the corridors. We could only question ourselves for what all those rooms had been made once. He explained nothing but kept quiet as his codex demanded of him. Maybe he regarded that knowledge as redundant for us. He just shared the most important information with us.

After a lot of corridors brother Jeremiah suddenly paused and turned to us. We stood in a large circular room. The ground in the middle of the room was carved with runes which shaped another smaller circle. The material of the ground was another than the one where we were standing right now. Somehow, it reminded me of a place for the incantation of a demon. The room looked like an old cave. The ceiling wasn't even but different sized salt crystals hung down from it. It was completely dark and still, I could spot grey silhouettes in the shadows. They seemed to watch us from all sides.

Just when I lifted my gaze from the ground, I noticed that brother Jeremiah had vanished. I felt the lump return in my stomach. Slowly, I turned around. Maryse and Adam stood offside, and their eyes rested on me. My mother was next to me and squeezed my hand. I gave her a look. She nodded encouraging and then I let go of her hand and stepped carefully in the middle of the circle. My hand pulsed at the spot my mother had touched.

Clarissa Morgenstern. The voice echoed clearly in my head as if someone had really spoken. There is no need to explain us the reason for your visit today.

In this moment, torches lighted up at the walls and the Silent Brothers stepped out of the shadows. They looked totally alike but somehow still differed slightly. I felt the power of their voices as they spoke to me, contemporary and completely synchronic. And although it fascinated me, I felt fear burning deep inside my chest. 

"Why?" My voice was rough and seemed miles away. I recognized brother Jeremiah. The Silent Brothers had come to a standstill in a circle-like formation around me. I straightened my back and pulled my shoulders up. They couldn't see or feel my fear. It would make me weak. One of the brother's slowly walked towards me and lifted his right hand in my direction. I stared at him without any emotion. 

Why are you torturing yourself?

His question threw me off track. Torturing myself? I didn't do anything. Confused, I pressed my lips together.

Your emotions make you who you are. His thin fingers touched my temple. I can feel your inner conflict. The warrior in you tries to be strong but you are alone. Valentine's power is very strong. Way stronger than yours.

Of course, he was stronger than me. Irritated, I narrowed my eyes to slits. He was my father after all and knew me inside out. My strengths but also my weaknesses.

He wanted to protect you from your weaknesses. Puzzled, I lifted my head and remembered again that there were no eyes I could have looked into.

"Protect from what?" My body was tensed. I didn't dare to move.

Valentine marked you with two runes. One rune that is contrary to our rune for location. The rune is very strong. There is another one, a rune that is unfamiliar to us. None of us can explain how he managed to mark you with this rune without damaging you.

I couldn't believe Jeremiah's words. Runes that the Silent Brothers didn't know about? "I'm not able to see them", I said. "Why?"

We do not know the answer to your question, Clarissa Morgenstern. But we can try to ascertain an answer. After the past happenings it will be best to search your mind for damages and check if there might be a blockade of your memory.

Calmly, I nodded and hoped that they would be able to annul whatever my father had done to me. To know that my father and brother were able to attack me whenever they liked was probably the worst thought I could think of right now. If they did something, I wouldn't be able to fight back.

Out of the corner or my eye, I noticed the rest of the group leaving the room. The fire died out and darkness surrounded me.

Abruptly, I got cold when I realized that I was alone in the room with living beings who mutilated themselves. I couldn't panic. So, I closed my eyes and recalled that they were only here to help me. They had been ordinary Shadowhunters once, just like me. They had submitted themselves to this ordeal to serve the Clave and the Nephilim's society.

My head felt heavy and numb. And suddenly I began to scream. What was going on? Frantically, my eyes tried to orient but it was too dark to peer through it. It felt as if they were ripping all my nerves apart. With every cry they separated me a little more from my body. I sensed a nagging touch on my back. During the scream I finally noticed that I was laying on the ground. Breathing for air, I felt the rhythm of my screams, the pulsation of my heart that started to throb like crazy with every new cry escaping my lips. But there was no pain. I didn't know the reason for my screams, there was no pain to feel. And then, when I believed my vocal cords would rip apart, I suddenly saw them.

Pictures. They ran past me, way too fast to look at them properly. I recognized cold winter days, woods, Valentine, Jonathan and me together in a room that was unknown to me. Almost, I was able to tell what had happened on those pictures, but it somehow couldn't pass my lips. As if someone had strapped my tongue to prevent me from saying it out loud. It didn't make any sense. As if someone had taken the knowledge from me, leaving smithereens of memories I couldn't compose.

A second later the memories all came back at once. I flinched although it happened in my head. They flooded my brain like a big wave without giving me the chance to prepare for this mass of information. Valentine was leaning over me. I hadn't heard him coming. The Silent Brothers were lying dead on the ground. Their mute screams burst through the silence. How was it to die as lonely as them?

"Clarissa, she'll come. She'll be here any second. We have to hurry." My father grabbed my arm and placed his stele on my skin. I got up and my gaze fell on Jonathan who was leaning against the wall uncertainly. His green eyes were widened, and he stared at me in unwavering grief.

"I'm sorry, Clary. I never wanted to hurt you; you know that I would never do something like this on purpose." He looked younger. Of course, he hadn't done it on purpose. He would never do that.

I nodded and smiled at him while my father pulled the shirt at my neck aside and drew a rune. "Don't worry", I said over my shoulder. "The Iratze is already working. It was just a stupid accident, this happens all the time at training." My brother seemed to calm down at my words. His jaw relaxed and he sat down at the wooden table.

I felt the rune in my neck taking full effect. But something was different. The burning that indicated the rune's effect didn't stop. "Clarissa, you have to listen to me very carefully now", my father began to speak and stroked through my hair affectionately. "You mustn't tell anybody about this rune. Especially not your mother or anybody else. Promise it to me."

I examined Jonathan who just shrugged with his shoulders. "Why can't I tell Mom about it?" She was part of our family after all.

My father smiled softly. „You could put her in danger. But you wouldn't want to do that, would you?" Determined, I shook my head because I would never do something that could harm my family. "I promise."

"I knew it. You and your brother would never put our family in danger. It's a special gift you two always have to keep in mind." I glanced at Jonathan. His smile was beaming, and his green eyes were sparkling.

oOo

I cast up my eyes. My back reported that the ground was hard and cold. Slowly, I got up and a slight groan escaped my lips as my head began to pulse. Did I bash my head up? Damn.

Damn!

In a sudden, I turned around to observe the room. Valentine was gone and Jonathan with him.

Something in me tightened. You and your brother would never put our family in danger. Before I could burst out in tears, I shouted my anger out. All those new memories in my head, most of them were just forgotten moments with my family or Jonathan in particular. But some were different. In my mind, I saw Valentine going down a secret staircase nobody else knew existed. Things he had done, things he had wanted to keep away from us.

I didn't exactly know when the Silent Brothers started to try to make me get up on my feet again. The memories changed something deep inside me. I felt a heat in my neck. When brother Jeremiah came near me, I struck at him with all the power left in my muscles. A moment later, I was up on my feet and ran out of the room. I couldn't see anything, my sight was burred and deformed, and everything was bloodred. My feet were running. I had lost control over them. Someone called my name, but it didn't bother me. They had failed me.

Valentine had known that Jocelyn wanted to leave him. He must have known it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made such arrangements. He had betrayed me, betrayed us. He had killed Jonathan and replaced his spirit with a monster.

I saw his smile. His sparkling eyes. Why hadn't I suspected anything? Valentine appeared in front of my mind's eye. How had he felt when he had killed his son? What had been Jonathan's last thoughts? His smile.

I collapsed on the ground. My sobs echoed through the stony corridors. They would find me and think that it was best to lock me up with this mental condition. But I had discovered the truth. They could lock me up, torture or even kill me. I didn't want to live without Jonathan. In this moment, I realized that I would never see the real Jonathan again, I would never get him back. Because he didn't exist anymore. And every time I would meet his body, I would stare in the eyes of this creature but keep looking for my brother.

My whole body trembled. It was cold and dark. From afar, I heard steps that came closer. Voices that shouted my name. The fire's crackled.

"Clary." It sounded like the call for battle. I didn't know how often my mother cried out my name. I didn't care. Not before her hands touched my shoulders, I reacted. My hands pressed against the ground as if it would give in under the pressure. I was sure that I must look like a lunatic. Like a dangerous lunatic. Slowly, I turned my head and stared at my mother with widened eyes. Dark tears ran down her check and she breathed heavily. She sank to the ground next to me and watched me. "Clary, by the angel. What happened?"

I shook my head. I couldn't tell her although I had to. "I saw them", I uttered. Her eyes met mine in confusion.

"Who did you see, Clary?" She calmingly stroked my cheek. I recognized Adam behind her back. He had stopped some meters away.

"Father", my voice began to stumble "And Jonathan. It was a memory. We were in a room that I didn't recognize. Father applied a rune on my skin. He said I wasn't allowed to tell you about it because otherwise I'd put you in danger."

The look in her eyes changed. Her features stiffened to an unreadable mask. "Where was Jonathan?"

How should I tell her about him without seeing his eyes in front of my mind's eye? What would he think about me if I told her? "He was with us. And he seemed happy. He smiled at me and apologized for something he had done to me during our training. I can't exactly tell when this happened, but Jonathan looked younger, maybe a year or two have passed since then." There was it again. His smile. I flinched and shook my head to dispel his face out of my head. Jocelyn kept silent. She swayed back and forth as if she wanted to calm herself down. My eyes watered. "Mom, he must have known about your plans. Even years prior. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made such arrangements. He just hadn't known the day of our escape." Humans changed over time. Time changed and created someone new. Like a snake that turned into something completely different when it shed its skin. But my mother said nothing. Stone-still, she sat next to me.

"Clarissa." Suddenly, Maryse was standing next to me. I hadn't heard her coming and spun around, startled. Almost automatically, I snapped to fighting position what didn't escape Maryse's eyes. She raised her hands in a mollifying matter and signalized that she didn't want to do us any harm. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to alarm you." Her voice sounded unusually troubled. Jocelyn still sat on the ground and didn't seem to be interested in Maryse's words. "I asked brother Jeremiah about your condition. Valentine has marked you with two runes and none of them is from the Gray Book." My mother flinched as if someone had hit her. "But the Silent Brothers are sure that one of those runes is a modified kind of our protection rune. The other one was close to our location rune."

Then, the Silent Brothers must have identified the meaning of the second rune in my absence. Rune of protection. Valentine had wanted to protect me. Although ... "Modified?" I wanted to sound confident, but my voice didn't even get close. I sounded like a little girl that had cried and screamed all day until her vocal cords had given in.

Maryse's dark hair was braided to a severe plait which swung left and right while she nodded. "They suppose that the modification made it possible to enter your mind." My stomach got heavy all at once. In this life every positive message must have a dark drawback. I saw my father as he drew the rune on my neck. The way he had smiled when he finished it. It's a special gift you two always have to keep in mind.

"However, and fortunately they never had full control. The Brothers can't tell if they were able to locate you, but they weren't able to read your mind or something similar. They didn't harm your mind at all." I couldn't tell if this message was good or bad. My mind was alright then, but nobody could assure me that they didn't already know my location.

"What you want to say is, my father could already be on his way to New York to kill all of us? I can't see how this is a fortune." One could tell that it cost Maryse some effort to answer me in a friendlier tone than I had done.

"The Clave sensed no portal energy in Idris or in the state of New York. It means that we are safe for now. Magnus Bane is supervising all magic activities throughout the city. If they are coming, we will know about it", she explained in a gritty tone and turned to Adam.

"Stand up!" I didn't sound considerate at all. "I want to leave this place right now." To my surprise, Jocelyn followed my instruction and slowly stood up from the cold ground. But her mimic didn't change.

"Is she even allowed to go?", Adam asked Maryse. His voice was impersonal and hoarse. "I mean, she literally fled the room. Did the Brothers finish their ... thing?"

Maryse nodded slowly. "Brother Jeremiah said that they are done for now. They managed to remove both runes. Clary got some old memories back which her father wanted her to forget. It's all they can do for now but if something like yesterday happens again, Clary has to return to the Silent City immediately."

I threw a look at Adam. He was leaning against the wall with crossed arms and looked over to us with a petrifying expression. His body language radiated nonchalance but his look said something else. "That sounds good enough to me", I said while staring at him. "Let's go back to the Institute then. This procedure ... made me tired."

-

Long time no see. Welcome back to this story. I paused it for quite some time because English is not my native language and since I write this story in German originally, I have to translate every chapter and this takes a lot of time. Buut I recently discovered that Google Translator is pretty good nowadays. So I will continue with uploading haha. Of course, every chapter will be proofread by me but there can still be mistakes, I apologize for them!

I hope you liked this new chapter, it was pretty long! From now on, I will probably upload every two weeks, if you're interested, so write me a comment! :)

Merry Christmas

Skyllen :)